He'll Live
by Sandileina
Summary: Yanagi thinks about the people in his life, and Marui and Jackal have a moment of longoverdue Rikkai Evil.


**Disclaimer: **Here's a random fact: Bluebirds are indiginous to North America. Supposedly. Here's another random fact: I don't own Prince of Tennis, or any of the characters. :)

**Rating: **PG, but purely because if a seven year old were to read this, it may confuse their little face off.

**Warnings: **… None, surprisingly. Must… think of… Oh yeah, introspection. That's a warning. –Shifty eyes-

**Summary: **Yanagi thinks about the people in his life, and Marui and Jackal have a moment of long-overdue Rikkai Evil.

**Author's notes:** Another Rikkai drabblething. **You don't have to have read the ones that come before this, but it might help a bit. **The full list can be found on my profile.The latest ten drabblethings are:

**The Name's Metaphor. Blatant Metaphor.**

**Cirque du Rikkai**

**Guess Who Fate Doesn't Like Much?**

**Eep, Crayons, and Parrots with Problems**

**The Waiting Camel**

**Operation: Gentleman Hunt**

**A Little Autumn Tale**

**Cases in Point**

**The Theology of Scarves**

"**He'll Live."**

Number 55, people! I hope you're in the mood for my attempt at inner!Yanagi. ;p And yes, it's in the present tense. I can't help it – if it's introspecty/angsty then it _has_ to be in the present tense. Just 'cause. n.n;;

Oh, and you probably wanna read 'A Little Autumn Tale' before this one. :)

**EDIT:** Had some problems uploading, but here it is n.n;;

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Yanagi would be the first to admit that he has a different way of looking at things than most people his age. Possibly, this is due to his mind being constantly melted and remelted into different shapes by the inter-dimensional strain of being around the rest of Rikkai Dai for so long. Or possibly this is due to his memory, which is unusually good at storing information. Yanagi isn't sure, and to save himself the trouble of coming up with an operational theory he chooses to blame both Niou and Akaya. Everything is one of their faults sooner or later.

Today, Yanagi has been thinking. And yes, that sentence holds the same weight as 'Today, Yanagi has been breathing'. But today he's been thinking about people. Specifically, the people currently in his life.

It was sparked off by Akaya (ah _ha_, you see?). He'd been complaining about some petty grudge he held against someone. Except the grudge he held was for something that happened eight years ago in elementary school. And really, that surprised Yanagi. He hadn't thought that anyone could hold a grudge for so long for something so small that happened so early in life.

That led to him thinking back to his own elementary school life and trying to remember anything that he could potentially have held a grudge for, had he been someone like Akaya. He could think of a couple of things (largely relating to his mother's sense of hairstyling), but nothing sprung out at him. He'd gone to a good elementary school in Tokyo, and he and Inui had kept pretty much to themselves – they didn't bother anyone, and no-one really bothered them. It was nice.

That was when Yanagi realised that he hasn't spoken to Sadaharu for the better part of eight months, and hasn't seen him for a whole year.

How had that happened? They'd spoken at great length when they saw each other at the Kantou Tournament and the Nationals last year, and for a few weeks after the Nationals ended they met up occasionally to play tennis or go catch a horror film. But then Yanagi had had things to be getting on with – there was so much school work, for one, and he spent so much time on the tennis club trying to get into Rikkai's highschool Regulars, and being with Yukimura and Sanada… He phoned up every so often and they'd chat for hours, but for nearly eight months he hasn't seen or heard Inui at all.

They were absolute best friends for four years, Yanagi recalls fondly. In fact, closer to five. They never even considered the possibility that they'd ever be apart.

Then came the move, of course. And Yanagi finds it strange to think that they made very little contact for the first two years of junior high. He thinks that this is probably because he felt guilty, somehow, for leaving Sadaharu alone. A childish thought, because of course Inui had always been better at making friends than Yanagi had. And still is, as far as Yanagi can guess – Inui trusts his interpersonal instincts more than mathematical probabilities, whereas the only interpersonal instincts Yanagi trusts are Yukimura's. And since Yukimura doesn't exactly live inside Yanagi's head, well…

Anyway. The point is; it wasn't and isn't hard to live without him. Not hard at all.

So now? He's been friends with Yukimura and Sanada for three-and-a-half years, and best friends for maybe just under three. It feels like they've been best friends forever, of course. Yukimura and Sanada were friends first, but Yanagi knows that he and Yukimura were best friends long before Sanada entered that realm purely because Sanada spent the first two years of their friendship treating Yukimura as some kind of bizarre idol that he had to both look up to and protect at the same time.

Sanada's interpersonal skills are possibly worse than Yanagi's.

But no matter how long they've been best friends, Yanagi wonders; how long? How long until Life happens, and they never see each other again?

It's a sobering thought. And it's made more sober by the fact that Yanagi can see it already happening.

Yukimura is going to America after Christmas. He's coming back to do the end of year exams, because he's sensible like that and wants something to fall back on if his professional tennis career doesn't work out for whatever reason (he doesn't say it, but Yanagi understands that Yukimura is worried about a relapse of his Guillian-Barré Syndrome), but apart from that… None of them, not even Yukimura, really knows what his Japan:America time ratio is going to be over the next two or three years.

In his more selfish moments, Yanagi almost wishes Yukimura wouldn't go, or even that he couldn't become a pro for some reason. Almost. He could never truly hope for it like some people might, because Yanagi _is_ a good person after all, and Yukimura is one of his two best friends. And really, if anyone deserves their dreams then it's the kind-hearted, considerate, titanium-cored, ambitious Yukimura.

But Yanagi is painfully aware that precisely for these qualities Yukimura is one in several million, and he doesn't want to let him go. He doesn't want to forget their friendship, to have it pushed to the back of his mind like Sadaharu's.

Yanagi enjoys literature, and he enjoys numbers. Ordered things that have patterns, rules; discernable, calculable things. Like Sanada. Yukimura is as predictable as the weather – that is to say, for all that Yanagi's indepth data and analytical mind is usually right about him, every so often Yukimura will do, say or profess something that is about as in-pattern as a snowstorm of fish in July. Rather like life.

The conclusions Yanagi draws from these thoughts are simple.

He can't control people or life (he doesn't believe in fate, which he knows is unusual in Japan); he has never pretended to, or thought he could. Data is never perfect. But he _can_ control his own actions to a large extent.

Therefore, his solution is just to stay in touch, no matter what. He's very good at making and keeping to goals and schedules, so all he needs to do is make sure he either emails or phones (more likely to be emails unless a miracle happens with phone charges) Yukimura on a regular basis – Yanagi estimates, realistically speaking, two or three times a week. He'll also make sure Sanada does the same (Sanada will probably email Yukimura every day without any prompting from Yanagi anyway). And Yukimura, being the conscientious person he is, will reply.

It's a very basic, simple answer that anyone would have come up with almost straight away, and it doesn't factor in numerous problems and hypotheses and possibilities.

But Yanagi relies on probability. As he watches Yukimura play a semi-serious match against Akaya, he calculates that there is a 99.36 percent chance of such an easy plan being successful here.

It's good enough. And if something does go wrong, well… Yanagi is nothing if not good at adapting. Things will work out. They generally do.

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"Um," Marui said, poking Jackal's shoulder.

"What?"

Marui pointed at Yanagi who was sitting on a bench next to Sanada and said, "He's been staring at Mura for about an hour now. Akaya was talking to him an hour ago, right? Do you think he melted his brain?"

"Maybe." Jackal glanced over and shrugged. "Eh, he's probably just brooding about Mura leaving."

"Oh yeah." There was a brief pause, then Marui said, "He does know Mura's coming back for a week out of every month, right?"

Jackal blinked. "He is?"

"Uh huh. Oh, I didn't tell you?" Marui raised his hands quickly as Jackal's look of surprise turned into a glare. "Sorry, I forgot! Well, he is. I thought someone would have told you… sorry!"

"I guess that explains why fukubuchoudoesn't seem that cut up about it… I'm always the last to know things," Jackal grumbled.

"Well, now you're not. Think we should tell Yanagi?"

There was another pause.

"He _did_ trick Aka-chan into collecting data for him once," Marui mused.

"And he did make me run a hundred and ninety laps last week to see if I fell over afterwards," murmured Jackal.

They shared a look of dawning satisfaction.

"He'll live."

"Yeah, he'll live."

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Sandy: -Exhausted- And this, woman, is why you don't attempt something like this without doing a few Yanagi-central crack fics first…

I hope you liked… Please drop me a review? I'd massively, massively appreciate it, and love you lots! n.n All questions, comments, suggestions, theories, rambles, constructive criticisms etc are welcomed with open arms. Flames are welcomed with open dustbins. ;)

Until next time!


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